WATCH TRAILER

The LuLu Sessions

A film by S. Casper Wong

US | 2011 | 86 minutes | Color | DVD | Order No. 131113

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SYNOPSIS

Unlike anyone you've ever met, LuLu is a hard-living, chain-smoking rebel with a tender heart; poet with a potty mouth; farm girl; former cheerleader; world-class biochemistry pioneer; and beloved professor. Aka Dr. Louise Nutter, she has just discovered a new anti-cancer drug when, at 42, she learns she has terminal breast cancer. Reminiscent of Peter Friedman and Tom Joslin’s SILVERLAKE LIFE, THE LULU SESSIONS, via video diary, records the journey S. Casper Wong shared with her mentor, best friend, and on-again-off-again lover over the last 15 months before LuLu died. Her compelling film chronicles how the two women test the limits of their bond and take on life's ultimate adventure, shedding old presumptions and values while adopting new ones in the process. Reflective, intensely honest, and surprisingly humorous, this unforgettable documentary makes life’s last journey accessible in ways rarely seen before on screen.

PRESS

3 1/2 stars..."An intimate documentary...serving as a remarkable example of and testament to the human spirit. Highly recommended."

Video Librarian

“The pains, unexpected humor and self reflection expressed by those who experience breast cancer (loved ones as well as patients) are recorded with raw immediacy. ”

Variety

“At its core . . . is a completely unconventional love story—an intimate and deeply personal portrait of two people confronting a terminal illness with honesty, laughter and love.”

Queer Doc

"It’s a beautifully stark testimony about the tenacity of love and enduring friendship, and it offers a sort of raw, honest, and, yes, funny, look at mortality."

Diane Anderson-Minshall She Wired

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • Reeling 30 - Chicago Lesbian & Gay Intl Film Fest, Audience Award for Best Documentary
  • San Diego Asian Film Festival, Special Jury Award
  • DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, Best Documentary Award
  • Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taiwan
  • Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
  • Vancouver Queer Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

S. Casper Wong

S. Casper Wong is an award-winning New York-based filmmaker, technology lawyer, and social entrepreneur. Her documentary feature debut, The LuLu Sessions, has won 10 international awards and nominations in every major category, with a US broadcast on PBS's World Channel as part of the America ReFramed Documentary Series. She received a Humanitarian Award from the SASS Foundation for Medical Research for her film's social impact on the emotional complexities of breast cancer. She is the Creator of the Peace Pod Project, a multi-platform VR/AR/MR dedicated space for facilitating reconciliation between 2 people.  She has directed and produced in China since 2005 and served as the studio executive for Roger Corman's first co-production with China. She is currently in development on several sci-fi and animation projects.

Casper's work has been screened and distributed internationally. She is a two-time winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Screenwriting Grants; a New York State Council on the Arts Grantee; Sloan Fellow at the Hampton's International Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab; a nominee for the Directors Guild of America's Best Student Film; the winner of the Special Jury Award of the Golden Horse at the Taipei Film Festival.

Prior to receiving her MFA from NYU in directing, Casper was Senior Attorney for IBM General Counsel, and received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University. She is the Founder of Asian American Women Media Makers, and is on the Board of Directors at New York Women in Film and Television, leading its Innovation Initiative. (07/19)

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